The Illamasqua Blues

I am obsessed with the colour purple but not all purples are made equally and some purples are decidedly pink. the beauty industry seems to have a problem with the colour purple and many colours which should be called fuchsia or pink or given colours like aubergine, grape or plum. Over the years I have learned how to deal with the disappointment of a purple that turns out to be pink (Hourglass I’m talking to you Empress Liquid Lipstick is definitely pink not aubergine!) and one of the main ways to turn a pretend purple into a real purple is to add the colour blue.

My favourite shade of purple is an imperial purple – think pantone shade 520 but I will wear all shades of purple from lilac and lavender tones, through to violets, berries and vampy blackened purples. The problem with the pinks that are masquerading as purples in the market is that for my skin tone and my pigmented lips, there is often too much white and not enough blue in the mix so the addition of a blue shade will take the pink to purple. When I am blending my pretend purples into real purples there is one brand that I tend to turn to. Illamasqua. It was not intentional but one day recently I noticed that all of my blues, were Illamasqua Blues.

The Lipstick: Disciple. This navy blue lipstick might be a bit fashion forward for the people in my local supermarket but I love it. it is also a great for mixing the perfect purple. sometimes I apply disciple straight ot my lips and apply the pretend purple over the top but generally I mix both colours on the back of my hand. This colour is dark and very pigmented so a little goes a long way but it can create the perfect shade.

The Lipgloss: Gender. I am not a huge lip gloss fan but when I saw this colour in the Illamasqua store in Beak Street, i had to have it. It is a mid toned blue and a vinyl super shiny gloss but actually quite pigmented. I never wear it on it’s own however, I always blend it with a lip colour. I tend to use this colour for more mid toned pinks and the effect never ceases to amaze me.

The Pencil: Navy. Although it is described as navy, on my lips it appears to have a hint of teal in it. It is a very different colour from Disciple and is part of the previous collection of pencils from Illamasqua so it has a softer texture then the current editions and can be used on both the lips and the eyes. It is great for creating ombre lip looks and adding a touch of blue to pinks that are ‘not quite right’

Have a look at my video to see what happens when you add an Illamasqua blue to your pink lipstick